Gene Monahan heard The Voice of God call his name a few times. Every time the full Yankees roster was introduced at Yankee Stadium, Bob Sheppard would announce the team’s trainer.

“It always was something you never thought you deserved,” Monahan said. “You never thought it would ever happen, and when it did and you never thought about it coming, it was always, ‘Oh my gosh. Bob Sheppard just said my name.’ It kind of gets you, man. It really makes you sting a little bit inside.”

Of all the people who said great things about Sheppard yesterday, Monahan was the best. Not that Derek Jeter and all of the players weren’t great, but there was something in Monahan’s voice that told you he really knew the man and appreciated the man. He called him the “most polite man” he ever met though his job.

“He would stop by every once in a while, during the course of the season,” Monahan said. “Maybe four or five times, poke his head around the door, wave over and call over me or Steve and very politely ask, ‘May I have a few lozenges?’ He was one of those guys that knew how to say that word. It took me 20 years. People can’t say that word, but he had it perfectly, of course, as he did with everything else.”

Here’s Monahan talked about Sheppard. Give this one a listen. It’s a very nice man talking about what must have been another very nice man.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.